Alternate Ending
by maddiekinzzz
Summary: Well, I'm really bad at titles and summaries. What would life for Maria be like if no one died due to the rumble? AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - I just wanna thank childatheart94 for being a very lovely person and encouraging me to expand on this idea. This very beginning part in italics is after One Hand, One Heart... I know it's not accurate.**

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_"Even death won't part us now…"  
__Maria's voice cracked on the last word. She looked down and back at Tony before walking toward him and folding herself into his arms. She wiped the tears from her face and put it in his chest. _

"How will you do it?" She murmured into Tony's chest.  
"What?" He asked, looking beyond Maria's at the multitude of wedding dresses.  
"Stop the rumble…"  
"You know I can do it, Maria."  
"No," she pushed his chest away from her. "I don't know. What if-"  
"Maria," he turned away from her. "You said you trust me. So trust me."

She came behind him and gingerly put her hand on his shoulder.

"Tony..." She said, her voice thick. "Look, we have ten more mintutes before I need to be home. Please stay."  
"Fine," He sat down on the floor where he was. He looked around and back at Maria. "What are we going to do with ten minutes?"

She sat down carefully in front of him. Her big eyes stared beyond him.

"Can we just talk-" She started.  
"Maria, no. You have to trust me if anything is going to work."  
"Why can't we run now?"

Tony looked at her, incredulous. "Wh-what about Riff? What if-?"  
"He's a big boy, Tony..."  
"No, he's counting on me! Look, I'll see you after all this." He got up to his feet and looked down into Maria's eyes. "It'll be okay."

He smiled and ran away before Maria could say anything else.

* * *

"Ugh, why do they fight?" Maria forgot just how many people she asked that question. This time it was to Rosalia, who was extremely early for their sleepover party.

"They're silly," Her eyes, usually vacant, glowed as she laughed. "They probably think that they're making themselves look tougher."

Maria grunted in response then looked up quickly at her friend; she meant to laugh politely like she usually did. Rosalia looked back at her and flashed a smile.

"Oh, Chino..." She mused. "Maria, he really is cute! Give him a chance!" Rosalia jumped on Maria's bed, making it creek.

Maria grunted again.

"What, Maria?"  
"I'm worried..."  
"Oh,_ ¡qué lá!_" Consuela interjected as she waltzed into the room with Fernanda. "Tonight's a night for us! Quit worrying, mama!"

Fernanda ran up to Maria, giving her a hug. "_Relájate._" She murmered before pulling away. "Now what's wrong?"

Maria laughed, trying to think on her toes. She wasn't exactly too fond of Fernana.  
"Absolutely nothing! Tonight is my wedding night!"

Maria took in a sharp breath before running to her closet and pulling out the nicest dress she could find: one she stole from the shop, one that Bernardo would disapprove of. She pulled off her nightgown to throw on this new, fluffy dress. It was low-cut and filled with frills. She retrieved her nice heels from the closet and spun around in her improvised wedding clothes.

The three girls giggled. "How do you feel, bride-to-be?" Consuela called out.  
"Pretty!"  
"Any last words before you're bound to Chino?"  
"Chino? Oh, not Chino!"

"What?" Rosalia yelled.  
"Not Chino! I have a new man!"

"Oh, Maria's gone mad!" Fernanda jokingly told Rosalia.  
"No! I feel pretty! Oh so pretty! _¡Tan graciosa que puedo volar!_"


	2. Chapter 2

**Much love to all of you that reviewed. :)**

**Maddie xo**

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Tony hadn't stopped running since he slipped out of the bridal shop. He was certain a fist fight would be what would save everyone – he was willing to face anyone for Maria. He ran past Doc's shop and into the alley, where he turned to find himself under the highway. The Jets and the Sharks had already congregated there and were staring at each other menacingly.

"Hey! Stop!" Tony yelled. No one responded. "Riff, buddy boy!" Tony tried again.  
Riff turned to him and gestured for him to come closer. He was explaining the rules to the Sharks, telling them to pick their strongest man.

"Diesel," Riff demanded.  
"Wait, I thought I'd be fighting _him_!" Bernardo interrupted, pointing at Tony. "What, he can't fight his own fights?"

"Riff," Tony turned red. "Just a fist fight."  
"No, buddy boy, that's what they think." Riff murmured under his breath, almost making no sound. "Hey, you fight, you take this."

Riff slipped something into Tony's pocket. A knife? Tony felt a surge of anxiety and moved Diesel out of his way to stand in front of Bernardo. He felt his hands shaking.

"Will you-?"

Bernardo knocked the wind out of Tony before he could speak. The Jets ran up to defend him, taking hits at all the Sharks. The knife was still in Tony's pocket. He tried to get himself up but instead stared at the fight in front of him, dazed. But with the help of Baby John, he got to his feet and ran up to Bernardo.

"-nardo…"

Bernardo let out an indistinctive yell, stopping the Sharks. "You will call me _Ber_nardo!"

It felt like the whole world was watching Tony in this moment of tension.

"I-I'm sorry, Bernardo. I just want to tell you that your sister…"  
"…should not be talking to you, and will not until the day I die."  
"I love her, Bernardo, like you love Anita."

Bernardo stared coldly into Tony's eyes for a moment. Was he thinking? Was he ever going to respond?

"Someone like _you_ cannot love. Someone like _you_ jumps people the moment they step foot on a new country." Bernardo closed his eyes for a moment then snapped. "Sharks."

The Sharks reluctantly retreated, jumping at and threatening Tony. He threw the knife on the ground next to Riff and ran after them.

"Hey! I've changed! I love Maria! I'll do anything, Bernardo!" Tony was starting to shake again. "Hey!"

He stopped for a moment, unsure of what to do. He ran to Doc, sure that he could help him.

* * *

"Doc?"

The frail man looked up at Tony in wonderment. "I thought you already left for the day."

"Doc, I need help. I-I told you about the girl I met... I..."  
"Is she hurt?" Doc's old eyes never were twinkled in a carefree way.  
"No! No, I want to get out of here before she is, Doc. I don't know what to do, please, I thought you'd know..." Tony's speech got faster with every word he said.

"Tell you what, Tony," Doc walked towards the door. "I'm going to get you some money."  
Tony opened his mouth to protest.

"Do with it what you will," Doc interrupted, "Consider it a severance package."  
"Doc..." Tony didn't know what he'd be doing after he got this money.  
"I don't want anything else to worry about. You'll be okay, Tony. Follow me."

Doc led Tony to the bank, which would soon be closed.

* * *

"Maria!" Bernardo bellowed.

Maria skidded from out of her room into the hallway to face Bernardo. Anita stalked out of her room.

"Bernardo?"  
"Do you know who I saw today?" He was steaming, pacing back and forth in front of Maria's door.  
"No," she tried not to look any different than she would normally "Everyone? The boys?"  
"You're not being cute." Bernardo retorted.  
"Well, tell me what happened, 'nardo..."

Anita walked closer to come behind Bernardo. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Bernardo..."

Bernardo walked out from his girlfriend's grasp. He began pacing again, trying to think of how to bring everything he needed to up. He couldn't just talk in front of the audience of girls peeking out of Maria's room.

"Look, I saw a Jet that was... different, or so he says, today." He met Maria's eyes, which were listless.  
"What happened?" Responded a chorus of girls.

He sighed. "Let me talk to my sister _alone_. Go, go back to your party."

Rosalia turned away quickly, leaving Fernarda and Consuela to give annoyed looks to Bernardo before retreating.

"_Mira_," Bernardo whispered, "What happened with you and that boy you met at the dance?"  
Maria looked down, almost ashamed.  
"Just talk to me, Maria, I am tired of all this."

Her eyes met Anita's face. She had a look on her face that screamed "I told you so", eyes shooting straight to the back of Bernardo's head.

"Maria?"  
"I..."  
"Maria!"  
"Please, Bernardo, I... I..." Maria looked from Anita to her brother. "I don't like Chino." She said, almost to herself.  
"Just get to know him, Maria, I didn't like this one..." Anita pushed Bernardo out from between her and Maria.

"Never say that again, Bernardo Reyes." Anita said. "Maria, what did I tell you earlier? Your brother is just like a little old lady."

Maria stifled a laugh.

"Bernardo, when are you going to stop this_ war_? They aren't going to stop so _you_ need to be the bigger person. _You_ can stop this."  
"Anita, these people hate us! Don't you see...?"  
"It takes _two_ people to fight! _Two_ gangs! Let it go and leave your sister _alone_!"

"Anita,"  
"No! Maria, come here." Anita held Maria at her bosom. "She just doesn't want to be set up with someone she doesn't like! Do you need a translation?"  
"Oh, you don't understand what they think here! That boy is going to take advantage of my sister and I can't let..."

Anita held Maria closer to her chest. "_Maria _is grown and_ Maria_ can fight her own battles."

Bernardo tried to argue again when Anita took Maria away into her room.

"I'm done with this." Anita said to Maria.  
"Bernardo is just..." She sat on Anita's bed.  
"Being your brother. Leave him be."

Anita took her hair out of the bun it was in. She posed a few times in the mirror as she spoke.

"That boy didn't seem all that bad, I guess..."  
"You were scared."  
"He snuck into the shop! I don't know, but I've been thinking about it..." She put her hair back up and turned to Maria.

"We've got to be here. So," she raised her voice, knowing Bernardo was listening, "_we need to exist with them too! In_ peace_!_"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh, how I love my reviewers! Thank you for reviewing and following this rather dormant story. I'm going to try to be a little more active because this story is always on my mind, but writing it out can't be done. **

**I wrote this while bored at my grandmother's house because she didn't want my help cooking, so cooking was on my mind. I hope I don't lose people… I tried not to center it on the food and to take out references that no one would understand. Tell me if this sucks because I will happily rewrite.**

**Well, I'll let you read on now…**

**Maddie :)**

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Maria woke in a daze to find herself in Anita's bedroom the next morning.

"_She must have tucked me in last night._" Maria thought.

Alone on Anita's bed, she attempted to recall what she spoke to Anita about. The last night was a blur. All she could think about was what Tony's skin felt like two nights before at the dance. She sat herself up straight, bringing her hands to her cheeks. _So warm_, she remembered.

Maria kicked her legs out from under the pile of sheets on top of her, exposing them to the grating cold. She, like the rest of the Sharks, still had some getting used to. From Anita's room, Maria had a few flights of stairs to get down before reaching her family's apartment. She ran, feeling stupid for not covering her legs and feet the night before, and found she was the last to wake up. Everyone was awake and working and she let herself into her apartment to get dressed.

"_Por Dios,_" Anita announced, looking up from the dinner she was preparing. "It's nearly nine o'clock. Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine. Where's Bernardo?"  
"Oh, he's out getting spices. Some things are so hard to find here, but we figure someone knows what _sofrito_ is."  
"I'll help with the rice when he…" Maria looked from the pot to Anita and then to her door. She was on her toes, still too cold to rest her feet entirely on the floor.

"Excuse me." Maria said abruptly as she went into her room and locked the door.

After getting dressed into her work dress and a sweater in record time, Maria sat out on her fire escape. Her daydreams took her into a world where she could see Tony again. Hear his voice, feel his touch. She closed her eyes, trying to escape from the dirty world around her when she was startled into reality.

"Maria?" A voice called from below.

Maria jumped up. On the ladder was Tony, climbing up as he did the night of the dance.

"Maria!"  
She took a breath. "Tony,"

She jumped up into his arms, kissing him as if they hadn't seen each other for years.

"Tony," Maria looked into her room, "Come in."  
"What?"  
"I want you to meet Anita."

Before Tony could protest, Maria was inside her room waving him in. He bent down into the window and let himself through Maria's door into the kitchen. For a moment, he marveled at the foreign smell coming from the pot Anita was attending to. Next to her were a plate of raw chicken and an odd assortment of spices and herbs.

"Hello, Tony." She said without looking up.  
"Anita?" He, still unsure of most of the Sharks' actual names, looked at Maria horrified.  
"Yes, hi! Don't be nervous, I won't bite." Anita looked up and winked.  
"What are you cooking?"  
"_Asopao de pollo y __arroz y __todo_..." Maria added in, trying to stay in the conversation.  
"Stop, Maria. It's just some soup and chicken. Come here." She answered back, looking down into the pot once again.

Tony approached slowly, as if each step he took would agitate a sleeping bear. Maria came behind him to push him forward.

"You're fine," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry about Bernardo and all the other boys. My own actions yesterday were wrong as well. I want some peace around me; this isn't World War III." She continued adding herbs to the pot.  
"You're right." Tony said, relaxing.  
"You shouldn't be sneaking around anymore," Anita said, turning to Maria with an authoritative air. "Tony, why don't you stay here for some time and help cook? I didn't want to be stuck here, but Maria's parents are out for the day and Rosalia left me alone."  
"I said I'd help anyway." Maria looked at Tony hopefully.  
"Wonderful." Anita gave a spoon to Maria and turned to walk away. "I'll be back to eat. Tell Bernardo that I'm in my room. Bye, Tony."  
"Bye…"

She slammed the door and quickly walked away.

"It's okay. She just hates cooking. To be honest, she's not that good either." Maria laughed and kissed Tony. "You don't have to be nervous anymore."  
"Well, Bernardo hates me and I haven't met your parents…"  
"My parents are much nicer than Bernardo." Was all Maria said back.

Maria diligently worked, switching between crushing together a majority of the spices in the kitchen in a bowl and stirring the soup. She turned every so often to smile at Tony as the aroma got stronger and more distinctive. "Come here. I want you to try something before I get my hands messy with chicken."

Maria held out a spoonful of the soup to Tony. He did not realize how different the food they ate was. He smelled it for a minute and looked at Maria with concern.

"What is this?" He asked.  
"Did Anita mess it up? I tried to fix it with the pepper." She took the spoon. "Oh, it's fine!"

Maria took another dip into the pot and quickly put the spoon in Tony's mouth.

"There." She said, feeling accomplished.

After a moment of tasting the soup, Tony asked what it was for the third time. As she rubbed the spice mix she had just created onto the chicken, she explained the soup to him and the variations of it they ate back home.

"It's my favorite." She said. "I hope you liked it."  
"It was good. You really like food, huh?"  
"We all do. I'll have to teach you some more before you meet my father… if you know about our food, he'll love you." She smiled. "Not that he wouldn't if you didn't."  
"Are you sure I should stay…?" Tony began to feel agitated, and longed to simply hold Maria close  
"I don't see why not, what with Anita trying to keep the peace." Maria shrugged as she threw the chicken into the bowl filled with spices.  
"Well then, I will. You'll just have to teach me the names of the food… and the people."

Keeping her meat-covered hands arms length away from herself and Tony, Maria turned her head to him and quickly pecked him on the lips with a smile.

"You're going to love it." She said.


End file.
